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That reminds me... of Dealing with a coon in a state park. Same issue, as mentioned above. Beings, we all had hot adult drinks.. i brought up a Compressed Creamer powered by No2(nitro). I Made chocolate flavor Yep, you guessed it!.. that Furry masked bandit Kept wanting food. begging 1 foot from my chair. Unscrewed the Flowering spigot, from Whip cream canister. Pointed straight at the coons face THWACK POOF.... He did not like that, ran off, Then Licking itself while running.. slowed down & stopped.. turned back.. Drats, he wanted more. He got face full of Water at high speed. Never came back.

They are trouble in a little package.. If I was not in State park, a Dirt nap for That coon.

Imagine having a porcupine brush up against the bottom of your hammock. That's the stuff of nightmares.

That would be painful! My first reaction was that climbing a tree would give you immunity, but then I remembered that porcupines climb trees too! But at least with good placement you wouldn't run into having quills transferred to your back.

My Father, Brother and I were on a Boundary waters canoe trip and were paddling along when a huge storm came upon us. We were loaded down with gear and only had to paddle about 500 more yards to the next island. It was pouring down rain and whitecaps were throwing water into the canoe. We all paddled like mad and the canoe kept filling with water until it was inches from the top. Somehow we kept it straight and made it to the island where we spent several hours drying out and relaxing. I actually hooked into a large Northern pike right there after the storm, but she broke off. My second scariest moment wasn't in the woods, but a Wally world parking lot. I had just bought one of those large cans of camp fuel, and set it inside my car on the floor of the back passenger seat and it immediately started spouting a line of fire (right in front of my amused German shepherd) my girlfriend panicked and tried to get out quickly but didn't realize her seatbelt was on for a few seconds. I had set the can on top of my trolling motor battery and it created a connection and blew a tiny hole in the top of the can. I threw it out of the car, and it landed under the car next to us, so I kicked it into the open area behind the cars. At this point there were maybe three small fires burning in different areas and a man ran over with an old rug and helped put them out. I put my foot on the can and it went out right away. Glad it didn't explode. I then went back into walmart with the dripping can and exchanged for a new one.

While on the AT, the tree I was hooked up to snapped and landed inches away from my face. I was trapped in the hammock for at least twenty minutes in a very small pocket. Did I mention I'm somewhat claustrophobic?

I've had a few (black) bear encounters on the trail but it's usually just their backside as they take off but the scariest was on a solo trip a few years ago where I blew up my ankle. On the plus side, the weather was great, the beach I made it to was scenic, and I had lots of food, and a good first aid kit. Thankfully it was on the first day so I only had about 20 km back to the trail head after the swelling went down a few days later. I did have a PLB with me that I considered using but taking a couple days to limp back seemed more fun (read - less embarrassing).

I've had a few (black) bear encounters on the trail but it's usually just their backside as they take off but the scariest was on a solo trip a few years ago where I blew up my ankle. On the plus side, the weather was great, the beach I made it to was scenic, and I had lots of food, and a good first aid kit. Thankfully it was on the first day so I only had about 20 km back to the trail head after the swelling went down a few days later. I did have a PLB with me that I considered using but taking a couple days to limp back seemed more fun (read - less embarrassing).

mountain lion encounter

When hiking in the Little Blakely trail system in Arkansas when on the south loop I found a very large cat print in the mud crossing the trail(i'm always on the lookout for prints and scat of all animals). It was way too big to be a bobcat. Didn't see the maker of the print on that trip though. I was back in a month(solo) and camping on Glades Loop. Around midnight there was a big commotion going on outside of camp that woke me up. I thought maybe it was a bunch of deer or something so I yelled at it and I heard it take off and then it made a terrible noise I'd never heard from any deer. For whatever reason(curiosity will kill you right) i got out of the tent(before I went hammock) to see what the heck it was. And about 40 yards out there it was. I yelled at it(after putting a round in my pistol for self assurance) and it did take off but it came back twice that night and I ran it off both times. Needless to say I didn't sleep and as soon as the sun came up I was outta there.

Mine are tame compared to some of these. Just 45 minutes into my first long trek of 2003 to Mt. Whitney on High Sierra Trail after taking a 5 minute break I stand up only to have a 6' rattler emerge from a hole in the ground a mere 8" from my tush. The horses wandering through our campsite between us sleeping under the stars on a plastic tarp. The numerous bear encounters that left my shorts in need of changing, washing and perhaps burning to the deer that ran uphill into a line of scouts awaiting campfire on a dark path, spinning one around and bruising another.

I can't help but to imagine all these critters gathered around a big campfire, enjoying s'mores and sharing stories of the times they made a human soil their underwear. I'd love to attent that campfire!

Happy Trails to one and all.
Enjoy the outdoors wisely and elevate your perspective.